State Prosecutor criticizes new Police Investigations Unit law as petition filed with Supreme Court
State Prosecutor Amit Isman sent a letter this morning, Thursday, to employees of the Department for Investigating Police Officers, against the backdrop of the law approved in the Knesset last night, under which the department will be removed from the State Attorney’s Office and turned into an independent body within the Justice Ministry. At the beginning of his remarks, Isman referred to the approval of the law and wrote, "Last night the Knesset approved the law concerning the status and structure of the Department for Investigating Police Officers."
According to him, throughout the legislative process he and many professional officials in law enforcement presented professional positions, comments and reservations regarding the bill, its significance and its implications for Israel’s law enforcement system. He also noted that the Knesset has decided the issue, and that the law provides for a significant transition and preparation period, during which various state bodies will be required to deal with the legal, organizational and practical aspects of its implementation.
In the letter, the State Prosecutor stressed that the Department for Investigating Police Officers has for years played "a central and important role in preserving the rule of law, integrity and public trust in law enforcement systems," and expressed "deep appreciation for the women and men of the department, past and present, for their professional, dedicated and important work."
In an implied criticism of the law, Isman added that the department’s importance rests on its professionalism, the factual nature of its work, the independence of its judgment, and its ability to act without fear or bias. According to him, these values are a fundamental condition for public trust in law enforcement systems and are essential to the department’s continued ability to fulfill its role in the future.
He concluded by writing that "the State Attorney’s Office will continue to act responsibly and with dignity within the framework of the law and in accordance with future developments."
Meanwhile, this morning the Movement for Quality Government already filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against the law and asked that it be struck down, or alternatively that "the provisions regulating the politicization of the appointment processes for the position of head of the department for investigating police officers and the position of the coordinator for police investigations" be annulled. The movement said the amendment seeks to sever the department from the State Attorney’s Office and turn it into a separate unit within the Justice Ministry.
Under the amendment, the head of the department would be appointed and removed by a dedicated appointments committee, most of whose members are appointed by the Justice Minister or his ministry director general, "in a way that gives the minister effective control over the appointment of the person heading the body and the termination of his or her tenure." At the same time, the amendment expands the department’s powers, transfers to its head powers currently held by the State Prosecutor and the Attorney General, broadens the range of offenses under its authority, and stipulates that its budget will be managed within the Justice Ministry’s budget and determined by the minister.
In addition, a new position is created, the "coordinator for police investigations," who is appointed and removed under the same mechanism, one that is "influenced by political pressures," in the organization’s words. In the movement’s view, "the amendment causes severe harm to the department’s independence. Subjecting the appointment, tenure and removal mechanisms of its leaders to politically affiliated actors turns it from a professional law enforcement body into a body exposed to political influence."
